November home sales rose higher this year than figures for the same last year, as markets began to stabilize, according to a recent housing report from RE/MAX. The real estate company said that November marked the fifth straight month for year-over-year sales increases, topping off 1.4 percent above figures seen in October, as home sales fell for the seventeenth consecutive month. Median sales prices for homes taken off the market in November meanwhile averaged $181,322, 1.4 percent more than prices seen in October.

Inching forward by the largest margin since May 2010, homebuilder confidence ticked up two points from a downwardly revised 21 for single-family homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Current sales conditions climbed two points to 22, according to the NAHB, while sales expectations for the next six months moved up to 26, reflecting a one-point increase. The index recorded a three-point gain in prospective buyer traffic that accelerated the measure to 18, the highest seen since May 2008.

Two banks went under over the weekend, interrupting a failure-free last two weeks and raising the national tally to 92 for the year ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a number in line with earlier forecasts from the FDIC as the New Year approaches. Phoenix, Arizona-based Western National Bank and Panama City, Florida-based Premier Community Bank each shuttered their doors, with regulators appointing the FDIC to serve in its traditional role of receiver. Both bank failures cost the FDIC's insurance fund a combined $68.8 million.

Amid declining share and revenue across the industry, financial services firm Morgan Stanley announced that it will eliminate about 1,600 jobs, or about 2.6 percent of all employees, multiple news outlets said Friday. The move arrives for the financial services firm amid continued problems for the investment trading industry and debt crises for euro zone countries. Earlier this year Bank of America, Citigroup, and MetLife all followed the same route by announcing job-slashing measures.

In line with record-low mortgage rates, Zillow found interest rates for the 30-year fixed-rate loan hovering around 3.78 percent this week. The real estate finance Web site culled figures from anonymous online quotes, which it used in the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. The rate for a 15-year loan stayed around 3.11 percent, with rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages nearing 2.52 percent. By state, mortgage rates also fell nationally, with New York leading the way in a decline by 13 basis points from last week.

Following his announced resignation two weeks ago, Rep. Barney Frank showed few signs of slowing by denouncing provisions that made it into a proposal that recently cleared the House Financial Services Committee. He referred prominently to a provision from the Private Mortgage Investment Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô drafted by Rep. Scott Garrett and passed by the House Financial Services Committee 18-15 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô that aims to repeal the risk-retention rule from the Dodd-Frank Act and do away with the GSEs.

DataQuick released statistics this week that reveal a 4-percent year-over-year increase in California home sales. The analytics company offered up an account of resales in California in a report released Wednesday. Condominiums and resale home sales leapt from 34,087 in October to 31,403 in November last year, with sales in the Golden State still far below lows of 25,578 seen in 2007. The company said that mortgage payments typical of homebuyers averaged $931 in November.

Reform may be on the way for the housing finance system in the United States if a bill cleared by the House Financial Services Committee makes its way to the Senate. Rep. Scott Garrett hailed the passage of his legislation ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the Private Mortgage Market Investment Act ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô which cleared the committee by an 18-15 margin. The move by Garrett follows a similar push by Sen. Bob Corker, who advanced legislation to consolidate assets from the GSEs and create a Mortgage Finance Agency over the next 10 years.

Lack of action from the Fed on monetary policy, wrangling in the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Capitol, and ongoing problems overseas helped push mortgage rates to new record lows this week. Finance Web site Bankrate.com recorded an all-time low for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which slammed into 4.19 percent, down from 4.24 percent. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac countered with rates for the benchmark loan that again fell to 3.94 percent, down from 3.99 percent from the week before.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac revealed its December outlook Wednesday, forecasting that U.S. economic growth would likely climb to 2.5 percent over 2012 and that mortgage rates would stay at record lows. The GSE also pitched ideas that housing activity will scale upward but fail to reach ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£robust├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø levels seen in years prior. The company said that mortgage rates would stay low, with 4 percent for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage leading the way recently.